


Hurt/Comfort Prompt Challenge

by Callaeidae3



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Blood and Injury, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Head Injury, Hurt Keith (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, Keith & Krolia (Voltron) on the Space Whale, Keith (Voltron) Whump, Loneliness, Missions Gone Wrong, Nightmares, Pre-Kerberos Mission, Seizures, Sick Keith (Voltron), Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-06
Updated: 2018-11-15
Packaged: 2019-08-19 06:00:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 9,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16528787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Callaeidae3/pseuds/Callaeidae3
Summary: A collection of all the Hurt/Comfort prompts from Tumbr!





	1. Shiro & Keith - Overworking Oneself + Blanket

**Author's Note:**

> lechaton17 and I decided to challenge ourselves with an assortment of request hurt/comfort prompts You can find the H/C Prompt Challenge list at lechaton17's Hurt/Comfort Prompt Challenge - Chapter 1 and on Tumblr @callaeidae3.
> 
> I am keeping the prompt requests limited to asks on Tumblr for now so as to avoid overwhelming myself ^^ If you would like to make a request on Ao3, you can ask in the comments of Chapter 1 on lechaton17's Hurt/Comfort Prompt Challenge!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith tries too hard to fulfil his role as Black Paladin and winds up passing out with exhaustion and fever. Requested by @shinyhunterkate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After Season 7

His head aches like a concrete brick. _A…concrete brick?_

Someone pulls a blanket further up over his shoulders. The blanket is warm but it’s almost too hot, yet at the same time it’s too comfy to actually want to kick off. It’s confusing.

“Keith, you awake?”

His back is all sweaty and cold. His face is flushed and his body’s producing far too much heat to be good.

“Buddy?”

Maybe he should get the blanket off him…

“Answer me.”

“’m fine, Shiro.”

The reply is so automatic Keith doesn’t even remember thinking to say it. The voice talking to him is definitely Shiro’s, though, so at least he doesn’t have to worry about correcting himself and apologises.

A hand – a _cool_ hand – on his forehead. “You think so?”

Keith presses into the touch. “Hmm…”

“Can you open your eyes for me, bud?”

The thought is there, it is. He tries but his eyes refuse to open. It takes more effort than it did to form Voltron the first time the ever did.

Shiro’s a blur of blurry vision and white and black and grey. Keith can’t read his expression because of how fuzzy his face is and because his eyes screw shut before his vision can clear, but he can tell by the tone in Shiro’s voice that he’s…

Worried. Concerned. Somewhat questioning.

_‘Keith, I know you want to do your best. No one’s doubting that. But I’m telling you that you need to take a break. Go have a lie down. Go nap for a few hours. Whatever it is, just – ’_

_‘I’m fine, Shiro. It’s just a cold. It’s nearly over anyway.’_

_‘Have you looked in the mirror lately?’_

_‘Have you?’_

_‘Keith…’_

“’m sorry,” he mumbles. “Should’ve list’n’d.”

“Yeah, that might’ve been a better idea than falling over in the hallway, right?”

“Mgghhh.”

Shiro keeps his prosthetic hand on Keith’s forehead. A dull ache in his right shoulder is growing from lying on his side, but Keith’s too tired to move. His leg muscles ache every time he does anyway, so he decides not moving is the better option.

If only he’d decided that earlier.

“Don’ you ‘ave work?” he asks.

“We were on our way to a team hang out, remember?”

Keith’s head hurts.

“You kind of passed out on me before we got here, though. Freaked me out a bit alright.”

_Here?_ “Where’s here?”

“The common room. I figured you’d rather not have the medical staff fussing over you again since you’ve only been out of hospital a couple of weeks. That alright with you?”

That explains why Keith’s so comfty and doesn’t want to do anything but lie here – the brown cushioning he’s lying on is the brown of the three seater couch the Garrison shifted into the Voltron common room a short while ago. It’s been Keith’s go to when he can’t sleep at night, which is often, and when nobody’s around he’ll curl up and nap here.

_Probably something I should’ve done earlier today,_ he thinks.

“Is it alright if I stay here with you for a bit?” Shiro asks. “I want to keep an eye on that fever of yours.”

Keith frowns at the thought of the cool of Shiro’s hand leaving his forehead. “Please don’t…”

“You want me to go?”

“N-no, don’t…don’t go…”

If his face wasn’t already red with overheating, it would be red with embarrassment. He’s twenty-one, leader of Voltron, trained with the Blade of Marmora… and here he is pleading for his older brother to stay with him ‘cause he’s sick?

“I mean…i-if you want to go, then…”

Shiro hums. “I’m too worried to leave the room right now. I think I’ll stay. I’ll worry _myself_ sick if I don’t.”

A smile tugs at Keith’s lips. “You worry too much.”

“I worry just fine, thank you! My worry predicted that this might happen and look – it did. I think… I think the problem is that you don’t worry about yourself enough.”

“Ain’t got time for that.”

“You’ve got plenty of time now.”

Keith grunts. “Alright, wise guy.”

He thinks maybe he’ll listen to Shiro next time he recommends taking a nap. That cold had taken more out of him than he realised.

But for now all there is to do is exactly what he should’ve been doing hours ago – rest.

 

 


	2. Shiro & Keith - Capture + Comfort after injury

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro and Keith’s simple mission of seeking out scaultrite ends up being a rescue mission. Requested by @cha-lii

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sometime in Season 2

One swipe of his hand and the chains hanging Keith from the ceiling go slack. A whimper. Shiro catches him before his feet even touch the ground.

Shiro takes them both to the ground, Keith’s legs folding under him. It’s been twelve hours since he went missing and he’s likely been suspended for most of those. Shiro tries to keep Keith’s arms as straight as possible as he lies him down.

“I’m going to get this off you,” he says, “but it’s going to hurt.”

Keith sucks in a breath. “Jus’ do it.”

The chains are wrapped tight around his wrists. Keith’s fingers are stuck out at awkward angles, but thankfully none of them appear to be broken. They’ve just had very little circulation for a while. Shiro hates to think how painful the pins and needles are going to be when the blood starts getting to them again.

After half a minute of unwrapping, Keith’s hands are free. Shiro grimaces.

His wrists are rubbed raw.

“How are your arms? Think you can move them a bit?”

“No…” Keith whispers.

Shiro taps him on the elbow. Keith’s got his eyes closed so he doesn’t see him do it, but he gives no indication of having felt it at all.

“I’ve contacted the others,” he says. “They’re on their way now, but I’m going to have carry you out which means your arms are going to hurt like hell if they’re still locked up.”

Keith forces an eye open, the one that’s not blackened. “Wha’ about the aliens?”

“They’re not coming back. I’ve seen to that.”

Shiro’s tone is enough to convince him.

“Do you know where they put your armour?”

“I think…” Keith trails off to cough. “I think in the next room over. T-they…I woke up in there, they took it off and brought me in here.”

_And then had him rigged up, beat him, broke a rib and gave him a black eye…_

“Did they interrogate you?”

Keith grunts. “Couldn’t understand what they were saying. I think they thought I was cursing them in some…foreign language.”

Allura had warned them that the people of this planet were quick in their presuming. She hadn’t warned them that possessing scaultrite was seen as witchcraft in their eyes, and that Shiro and Keith’s simple mission of asking around for scaultrite stores would end up with one paladin captured and the other just barely escaping getting caught himself.

Talk about a mission gone wrong…

“They got you pretty good, huh,” Shiro murmurs.

Keith gives a wry smile before he winces.

“You getting feeling back into your hands?”

“Nnggg.”

“Okay, I think now is the time to get your arms moving before they cramp. Either way it’s going to hurt like crazy since your wrists have been holding all your weight for who knows how long.”

His wrists are not in good shape. There’s dried blood over the abrasions and soaked into the sleeve of his flight suit. His hands are a bad shade of white and purple.

Shiro slips a hand under one of Keith’s wrists and rests one on his elbow. The muscles are already starting to cramp and Keith’s already gritting his teeth against the pain, so Shiro starts.

Keith’s elbows are stiff. Gently,  _gently_ , Shiro lifts his wrist and moves it down past his shoulders. Keith’s jaw tightens as he tries not to give voice the pain. Shiro keeps the elbow joint only slightly bent, focusing first on getting the blood flowing through his shoulders.

After three times of moving his arm down to his side and back up to lying above his head again, Shiro reaches over and does the same for his other arm before switching to the focusing on moving his elbows. Not wanting to aggravate the wounds on Keith’s wrists, he leaves his hands.

It’s a painful wait for Allura’s communication to say Pidge is here with Green. While it would be good to go outside and wait for them, Shiro doesn’t want to move Keith until he has to. He’s been tortured before; he knows how painful recovering from the strain of suspension is.

Keith’s cramps get worse. Shiro pulls him into a half-hold, careful not to irritate the broken rib, and he hold holds him – holds him as Keith’s legs jerk in reaction to the spasms in his fingers, holds him as he grits his teeth against the painful sensation of pins and needles gripping the muscles in his arms.

“Just hang in there,” Shiro murmurs. “It’ll pass soon.”

By the end of it Keith’s shaking, hands limp at his sides but with the colour returned to his skin. He sinks into Shiro’s hug and Shiro rubs a hand up and down his upper arms.

They only need to wait a minute longer before Pidge’s voice comes through the comms. Keith and Shiro let out a breath of relief.

With Pidge agreeing to come in and get his armour, Shiro gathers Keith up in his arms and heads out the door.

 

 


	3. Keith & Lance - Overworking Oneself + Massage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith is stressing too much and Red prompts Lance to go and talk to him.
> 
> Requested by @glow--squid!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Early Season 3

For some reason Lance can’t sleep. He’d like to put it down to simply needing to adjust to a different Lion’s presence in his mind, but he knows deep down it’s not just that.

It’s like Red’s prodding him…to do what, though?

The mental image he gets is Keith. Not strange, really. They share a bond with the same Lion now. The image lingers and Lance tries to figure out what it means, why Red is showing him Keith.

Then he feels it. An emptiness in his chest. Tension in his neck and shoulders. Eyes strained and throbbing headache but mind too awake to sleep. Throat sore with crying.  

Wait, _crying?_

Red affirms. _‘”That’s just what Shiro wanted!”’_

Lance’s heart sinks as he remembers his words to Keith earlier that day. _“Keith, no one can replace Shiro.”_ Does Keith really feel like he’s replacing Shiro? Like in accepting the position of Black Paladin he has to accept that Shiro’s not coming back?

_Pain in his heart. Deep pain. An old wound, old pain resurfaced. Abandonment. Left. Mother. Father. Shiro, Kerberos. Shiro, twice. Loneliness._

Loneliness.

Lance tosses the sheets aside and gets out of bed. He slips the lion slippers on, grabs a quick drink of water and leaves his room.

His gut instinct tells him that the mental image Red sent him – the one still lingering in his mind – is actually where Keith is now. Lance makes his way up to the bridge and sure enough, there sitting in the Black Paladin’s seat is Keith, knees tucked beneath his chin and arms wrapped around them just as they had been in the mental image.

Lance approaches quietly. “You’re going to ruin your posture if you keep sitting like that.”

Keith inhales sharply. He hastily drags a sleeve over his eyes.

“You okay, man?”

“What do you mean?”

Lance grunts. “What do you think I mean?”

“Well, I don’t know, Lance. Maybe you’re asking if I’m finally okay with being leader – and the answer is no.”

Leadership…it’s a big ask for someone who’s never lead a team like this before. Shiro had led the Kerberos mission and been an instructor before, so leading wasn’t completely out of his comfort zone, but Keith’s really only been a cadet and a loner. He’d led his simulation team just as Lance had done with Pidge and Hunk, but that was a simulation – this is war and the entire universe is depending on them.

“It’s a pretty big weight to carry on your shoulders, huh,” Lance murmurs. “Being leader,that is.”

Something in Keith’s face softens then. He blinks, seems to replay Lance’s words over his head and assess them. After a moment he sighs.

“I’m not ready for something like this,” Keith whispers.

“You don’t have to be,” Lance says. “Just take it one day at a time. We’ll all be here to support you. You’re not alone in this. We call ourselves a team for a reason.”

A small smile crosses Keith’s face.

“Hey, um… Red was talking to me earlier.”

Keith frowns. “Yeah?”

“She, uh…how do I put it? She showed me some things – showed me you. She’s worried and to be frank so I am. I know there’s little I can do to actually help you right now besides be a good teammate, but…I was wondering, since we’re both here right now, if you’d like me to give you a shoulder massage?”

Red purrs in approval. Lance takes that as a good thing, but he knows how touch-adverse Keith is and he worries he’s being too forward. He doesn’t know where to look either, whether to make eye contact or to look away to give him space.

Keith clears his throat and Lance readies himself for the _‘oh no, no, it’s fine – it was just an idea’._

“I’d like that, actually.”

He’s never heard that tone from Keith before. A vulnerability, a shyness. It stabs him in the heart.

Lance smiles. “Cool. You wanna come sit over on the stairs?”

They do. Keith uncurls and pushes himself off the seat, arms crossed nervously in front of him. It occurs to Lance that Keith has let all his walls down to allow him to do this for him, and it’s deeply moving as the new Red Paladin – as Keith’s right hand – to be trusted so deeply by someone who doesn’t trust easily.

Keith shrugs off his jacket and hugs it, sitting down one of the lower stairs. Lance sits down a couple of stairs above him, legs crossed.

“Alright, Keith,” he says. “You just relax and try not to think about what’s stressing you, okay?”

Lance gets to work. Keith flinches at the initial touch, shoulders rising defensively, but as soon as he realises that Lance doesn’t give Thai massages but sibling-friendly ones, he lets himself slump forward.

He sees what Red means now about the tension in Keith’s shoulders. The muscles are tight all the way up the back of his neck, too, and Lance can’t imagine how painful that must be on top of all the emotional and mental stress he’s under at the moment.

As he works the tension out, Keith’s head begins to drop onto his chest. He’s trusting Lance completely now, letting himself sag beneath the touch.

Keith’s fallen asleep in ten minutes.

 

 


	4. Keith & Shiro - Injury + Kind Words

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro accidentally hits Keith in the head during a sparring session. Requested by @rangergirl3!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After Season 7
> 
> Huge thank you to lechaton17 for helping me out with the medical details! <3 <3

Keith grins and swings a fist at Shiro's ribs. Shiro evades with a neat side-step, brings his prosthetic arm back -

There's a solid thunk. Keith crumples.

The space wolf lets out a yelp as Keith's head hits the tarmac. Kosmo's gone in a flash, leaving Shiro alone to process what just happened and do something about it.

Shiro's afraid to move. Moving is what lead to this. But he forces himself to anyway, kneeling beside his brother with shaky legs.

"Keith? Can you hear me?"

He taps his cheek but Keith's out cold.

"Come on, buddy..."

Shiro's voice breaks. He frantically scans all around him, looking for someone - anyone - who can run and get help. But there's no one else on the tarmac but them, and since they don't have a radio or Kosmo nearby...

Guilt. Dread. Fear. Shiro swallows them down hard. He doesn't have time for that. Keith doesn't have time for that.

The first thing he checks is his breathing. Since they've just been sparring, it's not hard to miss the rise and fall of Keith's chest. Shiro carefully maneouvres him into the recovery position to make sure that he can get enough air into his lungs.

"Keith, buddy," Shiro says loudly. "Are you with me?"

Nothing. He rubs his human hand lightly over Keith's hair, feeling for blood. There's none, only a growing lump of inflammation on the side of his head. Medical will need to get head looked at, but for now it seems Keith's not in any considerable danger.

Shiro keeps thinking that until, two minutes later, the seizures start.

Keith jerks out of the recovery position, twisting onto his back with his legs splayed to the side. His head slams into the tarmac, once, twice - a third time, but with Shiro's human hand acting as a cushion this time.

Kosmo materialises a couple of metres away with Krolia at his side. Krolia's face morphs from confusion to downright fear immediately.

"Keith!"

They hold their breath as they wait for seizure to finish. It only lasts forty seconds, but those are the most terrifying forty seconds Shiro's had in a long time.

Eventually Keith stills, mouth hanging open, and Shiro and Krolia and even Kosmo let out a shaky breath of relief. When no more seizures happen, that relief only doubles.

Keith forces his eyes open. He blinks a couple of times, trying to get them to focus - then promptly convulses and empties his stomach.

Krolia smooths back his hair in her hands as Shiro reaches out to hold Keith upright. After he's done retching, his chin hits his chest and he nearly falls straight into the mess.

Keith groans. "Mmgghh hhnnnn?"

"What's that?" Krolia asks.

Shiro lowers Keith back onto his side, a little further away from the spew. He lies him into the recovery position again, just in case he needs to throw up again and to help recover from the seizure.

Keith frowns hard at his arm extended on the ground in front of him. "Wh'n tha' get...?"

The words are slurred but Shiro's close enough to decipher them. He tries his best not to chuckle.

"It's your arm, Keith. As far as I know you haven't lost it before."

Krolia raises an eyebrow at Shiro's humour.

"Sh'ro...?" Keith whispers.

"Yeah, bud?"

"I'm...what...?"

There's a hint of fear creeping into Keith's voice. It doesn't show on his face aside from a gleam in his eyes, but it's there and it makes Shiro's stomach churn.

"Shirrrr'?"

"I'm right here, Keith."

Keith whines, a keening that Krolia responds to with an instinctive chest-deep rumble. Kosmo paws the ground restlessly.

"Shi..."

Shiro rubs his hand over Keith's shoulder. "I'm right here. I'm right here."

"People are on their way, Keith," Krolia murmurs. "You'll feel a little better soon."

The truth is that'll only be an increment better. Shiro hit him pretty hard. Maybe if he'd accustomed himself to the unfamiliar weight and bulk of his new prosthetic arm, Keith wouldn't be....

Keith's face contorts. A choked sob escapes him. Krolia starts humming low and deep and Keith squeezes his eyes shut, honing into the sound. Shiro's heart splits in two.

The doors to the Garrison building open and a team dressed in medtech suits come running over with a stretcher. Krolia's humming stalls at the sound of the doors crashing open, causing Keith to open his eyes.

Oh God, help him...

Keith's eyes are wide, scared. The keening sound he made before comes out as a high-pitched distressed cry. Krolia's attention snaps back to him and she snatches his extended hand in her own.

Shiro leans over to whisper in Keith's ear, "You're okay. They're here to help. Krolia and I won't leave you, okay? Even if they ask us to, at least one of us will stay right with you, yeah?"

Keith's wail turns into a whimper before his voice cuts out. Even Krolia's beginning to look distressed now.

"Keith," she says. "You're going to be okay."

As the medtechs assess the situation, Keith's breathing picks up. Shiro massages his arm, reassuring him he's going to be fine and that these people are going to be good to him. But when they load him onto the stretcher and turn to ask Shiro and Krolia if they can wait in the waiting room when they get back into the building, Keith decides he doesn't trust them one bit.

In the end the medtechs have no choice but to let both Shiro and Krolia go with them. Kosmo doesn't give them the option of keeping him out either.

Keith calms a little when he realises none of them are leaving. His fear comes from a deeper place the medical team could ever be aware of. It's something both Shiro and Krolia have inevitably been part of causing, and there's no way they're going to let Keith think they're leaving him again.

"We're right here," Shiro says as he walks beside the stretcher. "You're going to be okay.'

Krolia ignores the bewildered looks she gets and keeps purring and Keith, confused and frightened as he is, slowly begins to trust them.

 

 

 


	5. Lance & Pidge - Overworking oneself + Falling asleep on one's shoulder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance can’t sleep and Pidge is up late finalising plans to search for Matt..Requested by @glow--squid!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set on the day Keith leaves Voltron for the Blades in Season 4

It’s late and the day’s been long, but there’s too much on Lance’s mind for sleep to come easy. Usually it’s not a problem, usually he’s able to switch off – but  _Keith._

He hadn’t left with a true smile. Lance had seen Keith really smile a few times and today wasn’t one of them.

They’d pushed him away, hadn’t they? They’d all been so quick to beat him down for not supporting the team as leader while they were all happy being ignorant to how harsh they were being on Keith.

And Lance, supposedly Voltron’s right hand man…where was he when all this was happening? Joining in?

He needs to get it out of system. He makes a mental checklist of all the people he could talk to right now: Hunk’s asleep, Allura wouldn’t get it, Shiro…no, Coran…maybe?

Which leaves Pidge.

Sure enough, she’s still on the bridge, an array of data and information sprawled out on the screens surrounding her. Lance wonders how she’s not falling asleep by now; she’s been at this all evening.

“Hey, Pidge.”

Pidge doesn’t turn or look up. “Hey.”

“How’s the plan going?”

It’s a while before she answers. Lance waits patiently, in the end deciding to make himself comfortable and sit down in front of her seat. She’s sitting cross-legged so he doesn’t get in her way.

_Wow… that’s a lot stuff…_

“The plan’s going good. What’s up?”

Lance blinks. He tilts his head back to look at her, but Pidge only so much as glances at him with an eyebrow raised. Lance frowns at the shadows beneath her eyes, the bleary way she stares at the screens in front of her.

“What’s up is you need sleep,” he blurts out.

Pidge scoffs. “As if I’m the only one. You’d better not have come here just to tell me that. I’m going to head off to bed soon, okay?”

“Whatever you say, night owl.”

“What’d you want any way? Did you wanna talk about something?”

Lance hums. “Yeah.”

“Well…?”

“Like…has it occurred to you yet that we may never see Keith again?”

_Great job. Really encouraging, Lance, saying this kind of thing when she’s about to depart on a search for her lost-in-space brother Matt. Great job._

Pidge saves the screens and gives him her attention. Lance continues.

“It’s his first time as leader and he’s still learning,” he says. “I feel like we let him down. We should’ve been more patient with him, more supportive. Now he’s gone and…”

Pidge yawns. “Keith goes on Blade missions all the time.”

“Yeah, but… he’s not coming back to the Castle after them anymore. We’ll have no way of knowing if he’s doing okay or if he’s even still alive. Kolivan’s not exactly one to notify us straight away.

“I want to apologise but I can’t, y’know? Who knows, it might even be too late for that. And I mean – ”

Pidge’s head hits his shoulder. Lance startles but manages to stay still enough not to dislodge Pidge from her pillow.

_She’s actually asleep…_

Her glasses are pushed up to her eyebrows and she’s slumped over her crossed legs somewhat awkwardly, but Lance is afraid he’ll wake her if he moves even a little. If that happens, Pidge will likely force herself to stay awake for another few hours finalising her plan to track down Matt.

Hopefully Pidge can find her brother this time. She’s been searching so hard. They’ll be here waiting for her to get back, regardless of whether or not her mission is a success.

Lance raises a hand and gently pats her on the head. If only they’d thought about doing the same for Keith.

 

 


	6. Keith & Shiro - Loneliness + Someone to lean on

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith's having an off day in the simulator and Shiro soon finds out why. Requested by @koganewest!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pre-Kerberos at the Garrison

 

Keith's evasive maneuvers are excellent on anyone else's standards, but today Shiro can see they're not as well performed as usual. He's taking more risks and not pulling them off, engaging the throttle too early and slamming on the brake thrusters too late.  
  
The wing of the space craft clips an overhang.  
  
Keith fails to ride out the air currents, sending the simulator into rollercoaster of artificial turbulence.  
  
Iverson would've booted Keith out of the simulator by now had this happened in class hours. He'd have been told he was slacking and needed to pick up his efforts. There's a lot of frustrated commentary coming from the pilot's seat; Keith knows that too.  
  
From the co-pilot's seat, Shiro watches as the ship becomes more and more damaged. It's like Keith doesn't care anymore. He's so focused on trying to achieve the mission objective that he's forgetting to mind the condition of the craft.  
  
Shiro picks up the radio. "Pilot, this is your co-pilot. I recommend we land to assess our ship's condition."  
  
"I've got this."  
  
Shiro grunts. Good thing it's just them in their mentoring session. Iverson would have lost his head.  
  
"Your crew is recommending something, Keith. I know this is your first year in the sim, but generally when a crew member recommends something - "  
  
"I said I've got this."  
  
" - it means there's something that's going to pretty soon cause trouble for you."  
  
The back of the ship brushes the ground, hits a rock and sends the space craft spinning. The stabilisers are out and their right wing is damaged. Keith yells at the screen and jerks the controls to the side to avoid the rock face up ahead -  
  
SIMULATION FAILED.  
  
The silence is choking. Keith leans over the controls, white-knuckled and chest heaving with the force of the anger he's trying to control - anger at himself, for not doing better to keep his emotions in check.  
  
This is more than just a bad day.  
  
"Hey, Keith?" Shiro says, unbuckling his harness and standing up. "Can we talk?"  
  
Keith doesn't move. His arms are trembling.  
  
"You're not in trouble, bud. I just want to know what's going on."  
  
He crouches down beside the pilot's seat. Keith turns his head away, but not before a tear slips off his cheek.  
  
Shiro's heart sinks. "How about we go outside and get some fresh air?"  
  
It's late. The weather clouded over earlier so it's not like they'll see any stars or anything, but Keith's one of those people who is quite content just to be outside regardless of the interest in scenery.  
  
Keith takes off the harness, slowly. He keeps his head bowed, his face shielded by his hair, but gets up and follows Shiro out the doors and away from the disheartening red light of 'Simulation Failed'.  
  
It takes them fifteen minutes to get to the rooftop. Shiro pretends he doesn't notice Keith's wiping his eyes with his uniform sleeve. Keith pretends he doesn't notice Shiro noticing.  
  
They walk to the fence and stand there, a not subtle distance between them. Shiro keeps quiet, doesn't say anything. Keith sniffs and tries his best to regain composure, but somehow he's finding it more difficult than usual today and Shiro can't help but be concerned.  
  
But this kind of hurt is deep and sensitive, and Keith's not one to let people in easily. Shiro doesn't want to ask if it only drives Keith further into his shell.  
  
"I'm sorry," Keith says eventually. His voice is thick with grief. "Today's just been hard."  
  
Shiro stays quiet, listening. He waits to see if Keith will elaborate and after half a minute he does.  
  
"I, um...you know how I was in a home before this? Before the Garrison?"  
  
Shiro hums, ending it with a question mark.  
  
Keith clears his throat. "My, uh...my Dad, he...he died...a few years ago. I never knew my Mum."  
  
Emotion surges through Shiro's chest. His stomach churns and his throat constricts.  
  
"Is it today?" he asks softy. "The anniversary?"  
  
He looks over at Keith then, who nods small and sharp.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
No wonder he was struggling to keep it together in the simulator.  
  
Shiro thinks of Keith's foster family situation, the parents who almost seemed relieved to have the kid gone. He thinks of the way Keith's homeroom teacher talked about him, the disgust on her face when Shiro asked why Keith's name hadn't been on the list. He thinks of the way his classmates treated him, both then and now.  
  
"You don't have anybody, do you?"  
  
Oops. He hadn't meant to say that out loud. But Keith just hunches his shoulders and grimaces.  
  
"I'm used to it."  
  
The punch to Shiro's gut is hard. "You shouldn't have to be used to it."  
  
Keith swallows. "Like anyone cares anyway."  
  
"I care."  
  
Keith ignores him. Of course he's not going to believe words like that.  
  
Words. Keith won't believe words, but if somehow Shiro can just show him...  
  
He moves slowly, casually, calmly, and places a gentle hand on Keith's shoulder. The slight flinch is still there but it's more instinctive than a reaction.  
  
"Keith, I meant it when I said I will never give up you. That also means I want to be someone you can talk to and lean on when things get a bit overwhelming, okay? Whatever the issue, be it big or small. I'm here."  
  
Shiro expects a retort of 'I don't need your pity', but it doesn't come. Keith just silently processes what Shiro said, a scowl on his face.  
  
"You don't have to be alone, Keith."  
  
It's those words, spoken low and honest and genuinely caring that tears apart all composure Keith had gained. Shiro moves his hand to the other shoulder in a half-hug, but then Keith leans into him and turns so that he can bury his face in Shiro's uniform and all Shiro can do is wrap both arms around the kid and hold him.  
  
He can't imagine how hard that loneliness is for a kid Keith's age. Shiro himself, he's been through bad phases of loneliness, but never anything like Keith's had to experience. Shiro at least had people he could call friends while Keith...Keith has no one.  
  
Shiro doesn't have the words. Instead, he sings.  
  
_Lean on me_

_When you're not strong_

_And I'll be your friend_

_I'll help you carry on_

_For...it won't be long_

_Till I'm gonna need somebody to lean on._

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song: Lean On Me by Bill Withers :')


	7. Shiro & Keith - Capture + Hugs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith is caught infiltrating Galra command during the take-down-Zarkon plan, but when Shiro arrives to rescue him it's Keith who does the comforting. Requested by @chestnutcats!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At the end of Season 2

  
"Keith, just hang in there. I'm coming."

The druid tightens it's grip on his wrists, drags him over to the table. Keith struggles, but he's being strapped down before he can get loose, armour and all - although they're sure to relieve him of both his bayard and luxite blade.

As the cuffs tighten around his wrists, his helmet's torn off his head, cutting all form of communication he has with the rest of the Paladins. He doesn't dare yell anything last minute to Shiro. The druids can't know he's coming; they can't know someone's already on their way to rescue him.

The bindings go tight, really tight. Keith winces at the pain in his ankles. He tries to keep his breathing on the shallow side so that the strap of metal across his torso doesn't dig in so much.

A low buzz -

Keith screams. His whole body tenses up, jerks.

The druid stops the flow off electricity. "You will answer every question I ask."

"No, I won't - "

"Who else is in this base with you."

" - tell you anything."

His muscles burn. All sense of feeling in his fingers disappears. Thank goodness his armour is somewhat insulating, but it's no match for an interrogation table with the voltage turned up high.

The druid takes the luxite blade in hand and walks straight over to the table. Keith's breath hitches a moment before the druid plunges the blade into his side.

"We know Thace is working with you. He has a similar blade. Which organisation is it associated with."

Keith's too busy choking on the pain to get a smart retort out. The angle of the table is making it hard to keep his head up, and so his gaze is diverted downward...to where the hilt...of his knife...

Shiro's coming. That's all he needs to focus on. Just Shiro, not the knife buried hilt deep in his side.

"What is the name of this organisation?" the druid asks.

When Keith doesn't answer, he jabs a finger down on the Blade of Marmora insignia.

"What is the name of the organisation?"

He's numbing. His mouth hangs open, trying to breathe but the pain...the pain...

Dark energy flares in the druid's hand. He raises his arm and brings it slicing down through the air -

Shiro's arm appears and the druid disappears in a burst of light.

Keith gasps. "Sh'ro"

Each one of the restraints are broken. The band across his torso first, then his wrists, then, while Shiro leans his good side against him, the ankles.

Keith falls to his knees, Shiro with him. Keith's vision is growing fuzzy and black at the edges, the strain of staying awake making it hard to think clearly, but he can tell something is wrong with Shiro. Usually he'd be talking to him, reassuring him they'll get back to the Castle in no time, that Thace is already on his way and that Shiro will go back to help him once Keith is in Red or something like that...

But he's not. Shiro's eyes are wide and not really seeing. He's not breathing normally. He grips Keith's shoulders hard.

Keith's vision blacks out. He blinks it back.

"Shiro," he whispers. "'m fine ..y'rr not back there, you..."

The words are a struggle to get from his brain to his tongue into speech and Keith knows he doesn't have long before he passes out. He can feel the blood leaving him from the knife wound.

Keith's bayard returns to his armour as he lifts his arms and wraps them around Shiro's middle. His strength's leaving him, too, fast - but Keith holds onto him as hard as can and for as long as he can.

"Jus'...jus' flash.." he slurs.

He doesn't really know what he's saying anymore. His head drops on Shiro's shoulder and he hears Shiro's sharp intake of breath.

The world tilts. Nausea. Pain. So much pain.

Keith whimpers. A strange sound, coming from him.

A strange... sound...

His eyes close.

"Hey, Keith. Keith, come on. Stay with me."

His brain is fuzzy. It's too hard.

"I'm going to have to cauterise it, Keith. I'm sorry. I can't move you with the knife in."

His brain doesn't register what kaww...ter...rise means. He hears the hum of Shiro's arm powering up, wonders why that -

The knife is pulled out and a burning hand comes down over the wound.

Keith passes out with a scream of white.

 

 


	8. Keith & Shiro – Panic/Nightmares + Hugs/Shoulder to cry on/Blanket

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith has a disturbing nightmare and Shiro's the one who wakes him from it. Requested by @himmechi!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Post-Season 2 Episode 8

The first thing he does in his dream is toss Lance out the nearest airlock, only Keith doesn't know it's a dream. He thinks it's all reality.   
  
The satisfaction of finally ridding himself of Lance's taunts is overwhelming. He doesn't know why he hadn't thought of it sooner. That satisfaction turns sour, however, when he hears footsteps approaching from down the hall.   
  
Allura.   
  
"Keith," the Princess says, no trace of her earlier hostility in her voice. "Did you just hear the airlock open? It came up on the Castle's alert systems...but I see there doesn't seem to be a problem afterall."   
  
Keith fails to hide his smile. "Not anymore."   
  
Allura stills. "Wait, weren't there...two of you here just before? The thermal scans showed two heat signatures and..."   
  
_ Oh. She knows. _ __   
  
"Where is Lance?"   
  
Before she can prepare herself, Keith draws his knife, changes it into a sword and runs her through.   
  
Somehow the act wormholes him to the bridge, where Pidge is quietly tapping away at her computer. She doesn't seem surprised that he suddenly just materialised, but as soon as the bloodied sword catches her eyes go wide.   
  
"Keith, what is that?"   
  
Great, now he has to get rid of Pidge, too.    
  
Before he can deal a killing strike, though, the doors to the bridge open and Hunk wanders in.    
  
"Hey, Pidge? Mind helping me with the - K-Keith, is that bl...blood?"   
  
Pidge whips out her bayard while he's distracted and fires.    
  
Keith screams. The edge cuts through his jacket and tears a line over his shoulder. Anger surges through him.    
  
He doesn't give it a second thought - he flings the sword at Pidge and it lands in her chest.    
  
Three down...   
  
Before he can retrieve the sword, Hunk throws a length of cord over him and pulls it against him. Keith's arms are pinned at his sides. He struggles but Hunk holds the ends tightly, refusing to let go.   
  
"You killed her!" Hunk shouts in his ear. "You monster!"   
  
So he doesn't know about Lance or Allura yet.   
  
"You deserve to die for this!"   
  
"Keith?"   
  
Keith's heart plummets.  _ No, please no.  _   
  
Shiro stands in the doorway, shell-shocked. He takes in Pidge, he takes in Hunk restraining Keith...   
  
"You did this?"   
  
_...come on,...-ke up... _   
  
Keith swallows. He feels a pair of hands on him - Coran - as the cord grows tighter, Coran holding him still while Hunk works on tying a knot.   
__   
_...just a dream, Keith. _ __   
  
He's got to do this. Coran, Hunk...Shiro...he's got to kill them all.    
  
_ Keith... _   
  
He has to kill Shiro, too. He must.   
  
__ KEITH!   
  
Night explodes around him. He's sweating, screaming, shaking bad. Shiro sees he's awake and pulls him into the tightest hug he dares with Keith's shoulder wound only recently having been patched up.   
  
"It was a nightmare," Shiro murmurs, strong and urgent. "None of that was real. None of that was real."   
  
Keith struggles to ground himself. His chest is heaving, he can't breathe, he can't breathe.   
  
"It was just a nightmare."   
  
A distressed whimper escapes him. "I-it wasn't. I killed everyone...!"   
  
Shiro rubs his hand up and down Keith's back. He holds him close, never pausing in the back massage. Keith shudders.   
  
His sobs are loud and messy. It's hideous. He's pretty sure he's disturbed his shoulder wound because it aches and it burns and it's part of the reason why Keith can't find it in himaelf to calm down.    
  
But Shiro is patient. Ten minutes pass before Keith's able to cry without his throat hurting, twenty before his sobs have died down altogether. He finds himself sagging into the hug, his head coming to rest on Shiro's chest, ear pressed against his heartbeat.   
  
He zones in on it. The steady rhythm. The warmth. The heel of Shiro's hand massaging the tension away from his spine. The quiet.    
  
Shiro, his brother. Alive. Real. With him right here, right now.   
  
"You said you dreamed you killed everyone?"   
  
Keith's breath hitches.   
  
"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it," Shiro says quickly. "I heard a bit of it anyway...what you were probably saying in the dream."   
  
"I can't even remember..."   
  
"You don't have to."   
  
Keith sniffs. "But what if..."   
  
"It's not going to happen. That's not your heart, what happened in the dream. That's the person you fear you could be, but I know you, Keith. That's not you."   
  
Shiro reaches past him to grab a blanket and pull it over Keith's shoulders. The weight of it is comforting, but somewhere in the front of his mind is Hunk tying that cord around him....   
  
He takes a deep breath. He doesn't close his eyes because he knows what he'll see if he does, but he allows himself to let go and come off the adrenaline high.   
  
Shiro holds him as he crashes. It's the only thing Keith focuses on as it happens.   
  
  


 


	9. Keith & Krolia - Sickness + Blanket

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith comes down with a cold on the space whale and it catches him out at the worst of times. Requested by @liveandletrain!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second year on the space whale

He probably shouldn't be walking, but he's too stubborn say no even when his mother and his dog say so.  
  
_You don't look so good, Keith._  
  
Ten minutes into the fifteen minute walk to the stream, Keith feels the strain of blood to his face. His head's a little floaty and he's a bit off balance, too, something he's only noticing how that he's trying to walk in a relatively straight line. His vision blurs a couple of times as he climbs down the slope to the stream.  
  
_Yep, maybe I'm sicker than I thought.._  
  
It was just a plain old cold he'd woken up with, borderline feverish but not enough to convince him to stay in the cave all day. Keith admits to himself now that he should've listened, should've let Krolia follow through with her offer to get the water instead.  
  
The handmade bucket slips from his fingers. Keith stops, heaves a sigh and picks it up. The world of the space whale warps and brightens as he does.  
  
It's not just from sickness.  
  
He tries to regain balance, tries to throw himself away from the edge of the stream in time but he's too late.  
  
The vision is of a desert. A familiar desert. Keith's there, staring out into the distance quite literally contemplating life. It's just him and his hoverbike, alone...  
  
Cold surges around him. It fills his ears and chokes him and Keith's chest burns with lack of oxygen that he can't get because he's drowning.  
  
His hood catches on something and he's hauled back up to the surface. Solid ground beneath his arms, his side, his legs.  
  
And air.  
  
There's another flash as he starts coughing, an electric blue teleporting cosmic wolf one, and then there's hands descending on him, pulling him up to his elbows as his stomach lurches.  
  
Krolia rubs his back, holding him steady by the upper arm, and in a matter of seconds Keith's body convulses and he throws up a leaf he'd somehow swallowed.  
  
Krolia slips an arm under his chest before he collapses into it. With one last retch, Keith sucks in a desperate gulp of air and shudders.  
  
"I'm going to lift you up," Krolia says. "You okay with that?"  
  
Keith groans.  
  
She hefts him up into her arms, stands and drags him the last two metres to the fire. It's barely been lit, but it's warm...so warm..    
  
Krolia deftly strips him of his Blade armour and cold, water-logged suit, leaving him in his undershorts. Keith shivers, coughs. If he wasn't this ill and she wasn't his mother and they hadn't spent a good year and a half rebuilding their bond, he would've minded. But he's freezing and he trusts her, so...  
  
"Keith."  
  
He struggles to keep his eyes open. He's drifting, mind spinning...  
  
Krolia shifts him so that his back is open to the warmth of the fire. A mat of woven flax is all they have in the way of a blanket - she takes it and wraps it around his body, then pulls him close to herself and lies down with him in her arms.  
  
Somewhere in the midst of his drifting she'd taken off her armour. Keith shivers, enveloped in warmth...fire and flax and Mum and wolf.  
  
He's asleep before he knows it.  
  
  
  
When he wakes, he's still wrapped in the flax but he's lying on his back with the wolf draped over his middle.  
  
It's daylight. The fire's out and Krolia's...  
  
Keith turns his head to look and is met with the fiercest headache he's had in a long time. He winces.  
  
"You're awake."  
  
Ah, there. Krolia comes into view, his now dried suit in her hands. She raises a knee and balances on her other leg while she folds the suit.  
  
"You might want to wait until your fever's passed before putting this back on," she says. "You won't get any better if you're wearing cold sweat."  
  
Now that she mentions it, he does feel clammy...and faint...and feverish ..  
  
Keith licks his lips. "How long's it been?"  
  
"Two S.W. cycles."  
  
Which equates to...  
  
"Eighteen hours?"  
  
Krolia nods. The concern is still evident in her eyes.  
  
"Oh..."  
  
His mother grunts. "Yes, 'oh'."  
  
"I'm sorry," Keith whispers. "Should've just let you get the water."  
  
"You don't worry about that. Just focus on getting better. You need rest."  
  
"Hmm..."  
  
Keith closes his eyes. Exhaustion washes over him again.  
  
He gives into it.

 

 


	10. Keith & Shiro - Injury + Shoulder to cry on

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith is trapped in a collapsed building in the ruins on Earth. It's a while before Shiro finds him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Season 7, on Earth.

Keith struggles to get enough air into his lungs. He’s hanging upside down, thrusters damaged and comms not working. His foot’s stuck between two slabs of the collapsed building – slabs of the floor he’d been standing on mere minutes ago – and his bayard isn’t strong and sharp enough to cut through stone.

He tries to convince himself he’ll be fine, that someone will come and rescue him soon. It’s only been ten minutes. He just has to be patient.

But his insides are acting like weights, not giving him room to breathe like he needs to. There’s so much pressure in his head from all the blood rushing there. His heart isn’t coping with the shift of blood flow either.

And that’s not to mention the pain shooting up his leg from his sprained ankle.

_I’ll be fine. Just another…maybe another ten minutes._

No one comes. The elapsed time on the inside of his helmet reads forty minutes.

Keith swallows hard, as hard as he can upside down. His fingers twitch.

Forty-two minutes.

The last time he was on Earth, Krolia abandoned him. His Dad died, inevitably leaving him. His foster families didn’t look for him when he ran away. The Garrison didn’t want him. Shiro left and he –

_No, he’ll come back. Shiro will come. I know he will._

Forty-seven minutes.

_I just have to be patient._

Forty-eight minutes.

It’s getting harder not to panic. He doesn’t want to cry, but the pain is so unbearable Keith doesn’t think he’s going to have that choice for much longer. It’s not even the physical pain which is stressing him out the most – it’s the emotional.

Fifty-three.

Time isn’t bringing him anybody.

Fifty-eight.

No one comes.

An hour and one minute.

“…th”

_I’m going to die like this, aren’t I?”_

“Keith, if you can hear me, answer me!”

A whimper escapes him. It’s loud enough to be his answer.

Footsteps crunch across the gravel, closer and closer. They stop outside the building, searching for a way inside.

“Keith?”

“Shi…” he whispers. “Shiro.”

Shiro’s new Altean-tech arm has a hole ripped through the rock slabs in a matter of seconds. Keith’s vision is weird but that’s definitely Shiro, real and here and…

“Oh, Keith…”

Before he takes a step further, Shiro radios in and reads out their co-ordinates. Keith wonders why they don’t just track Shiro’s location by his armour, then remembers they won’t be able to do so – this area is too close to one of the work camps, some sort of energy being emitted from them messing with the Garrison’s ability to lock on to their location.

Shiro turns his full attention back on Keith, brow creased. “I am so sorry. We haven’t been able to find you.”

“I-I’m ‘kay,” Keith murmurs.

“You’re not.”

He’s not. Shiro ducks around behind and eases Keith’s weight onto his non-prosthetic shoulder. Keith cries out as the movement jars his ankle.

Shiro winces. “Sorry. It’s going to hurt getting you down, but I’ll try to be as quick and careful as I can, okay?”

He takes a step back, angling Keith’s body from vertical to eighty degrees. Keith’s ankle flares in pain. There’s a few seconds of agonising silence and then rock grates and Keith screams and he’s dropping –

Shiro catches him and lowers him to the ground. Pain and nausea and dizziness and oh _no_ he’s going to throw up. Keith barely deactivates the seal and turns his head in time before he does.

His head is…spinning. It’s worse than a bad day in the simulator. Worse than crashing a Galra fighter. Worse than the moment before he’d passed out during his Trials.

“You came,” he whispers after finally finishing retching.

Shiro’s hands anchor him. “Of course I did.”

“I didn’t think you would.”

The crying starts then and there. Adrenaline and terror and pain and shock. Shiro apparently doesn’t want to sit him upright, which Keith is profoundly thankful for, so instead he lies down beside him and pulls Keith’s head to rest on his shoulder.

“I-I thought you were gonna leave me here to die,” Keith chokes out.

His words are all jumbled but Shiro hears the clearly.

“Shh. You’re okay, Keith. You’re going to be okay now. Sam and Griffin are bringing over a stretcher now. When they get here, we’ll get you onto it and take you straight back to the Garrison and the medical staff will help you feel better, yeah?”

Keith just sobs. “Thought you weren’t going to…to come…”

“I always will. You know that.”

“What ‘bout Kerbero…”

Shiro hums, gently rubs his back. Keith tries his best to ignore the pain of blood flowing back to the way it should be, the pain in his ankle, the pain tearing at his chest as he cries.

Keith’s not really there anymore. He’s numb with shock and shaking. He keeps mumbling a bunch of nonsense to Shiro, not stopping even when the rest of the rescue team show up.

Shiro holds him until a record of his injuries has been taken, ready to send off to medical, and they move him onto the stretcher.

Keith doesn’t remember much after that.

 

 


	11. Shiro & Lance - Memories + Someone to talk to

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro's unable to sleep and Lance is able to help him process the why. Requested by anon!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At the end of Season 7

It's late by the time his family all leave, but Lance still gets up to make the visit anyway.    
  
He'd heard about Keith from Shiro. He still hasn't come around and Lance can see how the worry is beginning to eat away at Shiro.   
  
Maybe he's upset that he wasn't able to protect Keith better? Who knows.   
  
Shiro is sitting in the bedside chair when Lance slides open the door to Keith's room. He looks up and tries at a smile but it falls short.   
  
"How's he doing?" Lance asks quietly.   
  
Keith is propped up by the back of the bed, a pillow under his head and shoulders. His breathing is steady but he's so still and Lance can't help but feel unnerved by that.    
  
There's no change in Keith's expression, no change in body language at there being a third person in the room. He just...lies there   
  
"He's doing alright,' Shiro murmurs. He sighs. "But they don't know when he's going to wake up. It could be weeks, it could be days. Keith hit his head pretty hard...and then there was that komar-like attack..."   
  
Lance comes to stand beside Shiro. "He'll pull through."   
  
He can't help but notice how shattered Shiro looks. He's never seen him with such dark shadows beneath his eyes.   
  
"Have you been sleeping alright?" Lance asks.    
  
Shiro grunts. "What is sleep?"   
  
"You look like you haven't had any in two days."   
  
"Your observation is quite accurate."   
  
Lance frowns. "Is it your PTSD?"   
  
There's a cloud of emotion that passes over Shiro's face. He takes a deep breath and let's it out slowly.   
  
"Yes and no," Shiro says. "It's just....seeing Keith like this and knowing that I could done this to him...almost did..."   
  
"Wait, you guys fought?"   
  
"I don't remember much. I technically wasn't in the fight at that time, but the clone...he came so close to killing Keith. That mark on the side of his face? It wasn't meant to be on the side of his face."   
  
Lance is equally shocked and disturbed by that revelation. Keith had never mentioned where he got the mark from and whenever anyone asked he was always quick to change the subject of conversation.   
  
"I'm sorry, Shiro. I can't imagine how hard that must've been for you."   
  
Shiro doesn't answer, just sits there staring at a spot on the blanket laid out over Keith. There's a furrow in his brow, a kind of subtle anger in Shiro's eyes...   
  
"You know," Lance says, "he doesn't blame you for that."   
  
"Oh, I know. It's just... I blame myself."   
  
There's nothing Lance can say to that.   
  
"Have you tried talking to Keith about it?"   
  
"I...no, not really."   
  
"Because of what happened with the clone?"   
  
Shiro nods.   
  
As much as Lance would like to say he really should, this is a sensitive issue and one that must've taken an immense emotional toll on both Keith and Shiro. It's not really his place to say how they should handle it.   
  
They'll talk, Lance decides, when it's time.   
  
He stays with Shiro and Keith for another twenty minutes before tiredness begins to get to him.    
  
"Well," he says, shifting his weight on his feet. "I think I'm going to go back to bed. I hope you can get some sleep."   
  
Shiro nods. "Yeah...thanks, Lance. For listening, too. It...it helped me process some things."   
  
Lance flashes him a smile as he starts walking towards the door. "No problem."

 

 


	12. Keith & Allura - Capture + Shoulder to cry on

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Allura rescues Keith from further torture. Requested by @toribubble!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sometime in Season 4

Footsteps.    
  
Keith's breath hitches. "Please don't."   
  
The footsteps come closer, their heels echoing off the stone walls. He can't see who it is through the blindfold but he knows it's someone new.    
  
Someone new to torture him. Someone new to wind the cranks.   
  
Keith can't bite back the tears any longer.   
  
It's no use struggling. He's been stretched out like this for hours Twitching a finger or moving his head is about all movement he has left. His hands are pulled so far up behind his head that his arm muscles can't contract and his feet pulled so far the other way his bones hurt.    
  
Whoever's coming will only roll his wrists and ankles out further. They'll jab him in the stomach too. Wind him so he can't get his breath back and demand he answer their questions regarding the Blade or they'll keep doing it.   
  
Like they'll let him go even if he did say anything.   
  
"Keith?!"   
  
His heart almost stops. "A-Allura?"   
  
"Quiznak, how long have you been here?"   
  
Hands brush the side of his face. Keith flinches, but those hands belong to a friend and that friend isn't here to hurt him.   
  
Keith licks his lips. "I-I don't know...a while. I tho- I thought no one would-"   
  
"Shh. You're going to be okay."   
  
The knot comes lose and Allura finishes untying the blindfold. She removes it slowly, Keith blinking hard against the shift in light levels. Thankfully the lighting is dim but it still hurts his eyes to adjust to.   
  
He wasn't imagining the voice. "Allura..."   
  
The tears come in earnest when she starts unstrapping the bindings on his wrists. The pain from the straps digging into the heel of his hands vanish, leaving only the searing ache of being stretched out for so long. Allura frees his ankles and Keith's too sore to do anything but cry.   
  
"I could carry you by myself," the Princess says, "but I'm afraid it's a long walk and we might run into some unfriendly folks. I'll need to deal to them. Are you able to walk, Keith?"   
  
It's hard to breathe between the sobs and the pain.   
  
"I-I don't know..." he whispers.   
  
"Are you able to try? I can carry you once we're out of the building."   
  
The building...if it's the same one Keith was tasked to infiltrate and gather information from, then it's not a small one.   
  
As much as he hates the idea of having to walk around right now, he nods.    
  
"Ok-kay, I-I'll try."   
  
Allura helps him sit up and it's the most nauseating thing he's experienced in a long time. He can't hold his own weight, but Allura isn't surprised by this and wordlessly slings an arm over her shoulders.   
  
Keith grits his teeth against the pain. His headache intensifies as he starts moving, and by the time he's standing he feels about ready to drop. Allura wraps an arm around his waist and holds him firmly against herself.   
  
"Come on," she says. "Let's get you out of here."   
  
"Wait...my knife."   
  
"It's okay, Keith. I found it on my way in."   
  
The walk through the narrow hallways and all their staircases and tight turns is exhausting. Keith's had no food or water the entire time he's been here. He's got hardly any strength to keep himself upright, let alone make it up several flights of stairs.   
  
But Allura is strong and her pace is cautious.  Eventually they make it to the rooftop and head outside.    
  
Keith's heart soars. It's the Blue and Red Lions.   
  
"It was you!" Lance exclaims. "Red was going crazy with the navigational systems and it led us here."   
  
Keith grunts. He opens his mouth to say something but then his vision swirls with black dots and his legs give way.    
  
"Oh man...yeah, you don't look so good."   
  
Since they're outside and there appears to be noone coming after them, Allura hoists him up in her arms. Lance keeps a lookout as she carries him the last five minutes over to the Lions.   
  
Red rumbles, deep and strong. Keith's heart stirs.   
  
“Thank you,” he murmurs, tears coming again.

Even though it's Blue he's set down in, Red continues to purr. Images flash through Keith's mind of all the times she's come to save him, all the times she came when he called and when he didn't - couldn't. This time is no exception.

Keith closes his eyes. The horrible ache in his limbs finally becomes bearable.

  
  



	13. Pidge & Keith - Failure +Standing up for someone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [Poem] Pidge blames herself for her failure and Keith talks to her. Requested by @traditionalartist!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set during Season 3

_Pidge_

A mistake I made, I let you down

Never thought I could but now you’ve found

There’s also a human side of me

That makes mistakes…well now you see

 

You think I’m smart and that’s okay

But now I’m wrong – what should I say?

Sorry? Oh, I screwed up bad?

It’s all my fault we’re lost and mad?

 

Maybe I’m overthinking this

But there’s a social cue that’s hard to miss

You’re still all waiting I can tell

For an apology…

…I’m sorry.

 

_Keith_

Don’t blame yourself. I should know

I’ve messed up bad, I missed the show

Shiro said he believed in me

But what he saw, I cannot see

 

I know the others seem upset

But that’s as bad as this will get

Yes, we’re lost, but we’ll find our way

We always do and we will today

 

I know you think you failed us

But we’re a team – it’s me, you, plus

The others, the Lions. We’ve got each other

If we found a way before, we’ll surely find another.

 

 


End file.
